Cotton-gin



3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

T-v B. LEE. COTTON GIN.

No. 600,287. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

wi/bnwm m: NORRAS PETERS co, wow-nus. WAGHINGTON, n. a

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

T. B. LEE

COTTON GIN.

No. 600,287. Patented Mar. 8,1898.

wamwm MM (3 iu.

IZ @a.

m: NORRIS PETiRS cc, womu'mo" WASHINGTON, o c

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

T. B. LEE.

COTTON GIN. No. 600,287. Patented Mar. 8, 1898.

ma Noam: rzrzns co. PHOIQ-LITHO wmumwch. o c.

UNlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS B. LEE, OF BARNWVELL, SOUTH CAROLINA.

COTTON-GIN.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 600,287, dated March 8, 1898.

Application filed August 31, 1896. Serial No. 604,402. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, THOMAS E. LEE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Barnwell, in the county of Barnwell and State of South Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ootton-Gins; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon,which form a part of this specification.

My invention is an improvement in the class of cotton-gins in which a series of toothed cylinders are arranged to coact in such manner as to separate the fiber from the seed, bolls, and any foreign substances carried by the cotton.

The novel features are hereinafter set forth.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan View of a cotton-gin constructed in accordance with my invention, the brushes and conduits for conveying the cotton being shown by dotted lines. Fig. 2 is an inverted plan view showing by dotted lines the main driving-pulley, the belt for actuating the same, and the means for driving the brushes. Fig. 3 is a vertical central sectional view of the gin. Fig. 4: is a plan view of the means for supporting the main shaft of the machine. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the support for the brushes, showing the adj ustable bearings for the brush-shafts. Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the plates for supporting the saw-cylinders, showing the adjustable bearings for the cylinder-shafts. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing the gearing for trans mitting motion from the main driving-shaft of the gin to the saw-cylinders.

The main frame of the gin is made up of uprights A, which in the present embodiment of the invention are three in number-the frame for the support of the lower end of the main driving-shaft, the plates for supporting the lower ends of the saw and brush shafts, and the plate carrying the bearings for the upper ends of these shafts. The uprights are preferably of metal and T- shaped in crosssection, this form giving strength and rigidity to the structure and affording convenient means for the attachment of the other parts of the gin.

B represents the main driving-shaft of the gin, and it is provided with a band-wheel I), over which passes a belt I) for giving motion to the shaft, with a pulley-Wheel b from which the brushes are driven, and with the two spur gear-wheels b and b, which mesh with intermediate gears, which in turn mesh with gear-wheels on the shafts of alternate saw-cylinders. The lower end of the main driving-shaft is supported in a bearing 0, arranged in the center of a spider-frame O, the outer ends of which frame are attached to the uprights A by bolts 0. The saw-cylinders D, of which there may be any desired number, are preferably arranged in a circle, of which the main driving-shaft is the center, and they are so mounted that their peripheries are only a short distance apart, there being a chamber E formed between the cylinders for the reception of the cotton to be ginned.

The lower ends of the shafts D of the sawcylinders D have their bearings attached to one or the other of the plates F or F. These plates have circumferential flanges f for the reception of bolts f, by which they are attached to the uprights A of the frame of the gin. The plates F and F are arranged a short distance apart, and each has attached to it bearings for one-half of the saw-cylinders employed, the arrangement being such that shafts of alternate cylinders are mounted in the respective plates in order to give space for the gearing to be described hereinafter. Each bearing Gis attached to one of the plates by bolts g, passing through slots P, out radially in the plates, whereby the radial adjustment of the bearings may readily be accomplished. The upper plate F has radial slots f through it for the reception of the shafts D, which have their bearings in the plate F, and both plates have radial slots f for the accommodation of the shafts of the brushes presently to be described.

The saw-cylinders D receive motion from the main driving-shaft B through the gearwheels b and b, respectively, the gear-wheels d, with which each saw-cylinder shaft is provided, and the intermediate gear-Wheels H. The intermediate gear-wheels are mounted on the plates F and F and are arranged in suitable bearings h, which, are attached to the plates by bolts h, passing through slots in the plates, whereby the adjustment of the intermediate gear-wheels to correspond to that of the saw-cylinder shafts is permitted.

The saw-cylinders D, whose operating-surface is of the usual construction employed in gins, are arranged in a chamber composed of the upper ends of these shafts are retained and by which they may be adjusted to correspond to the adjustment of their lower ends.

Arranged in positions to contact with the outer faces of the saw-cylinders are the brushes K ,.by which the fiber separated from the seed and other matter by the'saw-cylinders is swept from the saws and conveyed to the j condenser L. Extending from each brush to 1 the condenser L is aconduit Z, through which the fiber removed from the saws by the brushes is carried by the blast from the brushes to the condenser.

The brushes K are arranged on shafts K, which are mounted in adjustable bearings k of the same construction as those of the sawcylinders and as already described. The upper bearings 7a of the brush-shafts are in the plate J, while the lower bearings are in the plate K This plate K corresponds in construction and mode of attachment to the plates F and F, already described, and it is attached to the frame by bolts at a point a short distance below the plate F. Each brushshaft is provided with a pulley k around which passes a belt k which bears upon and I receives motion from the band-wheel b on the main shaft B.

The upper end of the main shaft has a bearing in the plate I, and on the lower face of this plate is also mounted the condensershaft M. Motion is given the condensershaft from one of the saw-shafts through the worm or helix m on the saw-shaft and the gear-wheel m on the condenser-shaft, which latter meshes with the worm or helix. The gear-wheel m is attached to the shaft by a set-screw, permitting its adjustment to conform to the change of position of the sawshaft.

Extending from the-lower portion of the chamberE is a chute e, by which seed, bolls, or'other substance separated from the fiber are conducted from the machine.

In the operation of the gin motion is imparted to the main shaft B, and this motion is, through the means hereinbefore described, communicated to the saw-cylinders and to the brushes. The cotton to be ginned is fed into the chamber E, Fig. 2, and the same is at once formed into a roll by the action of the saws, which, as described, all rotate in the same diduits by the blast from the brushes.

rection. The roll is kept rotating rapidly and fiber on the outer face is engaged in turn by the respective saws and carried to the brushes, by which it is removed from the saws and carried to the condenser through the con- The spaces between adjacent saw-cylinders is too small to allow seed, &c. to pass with the fiber, and the same falling by gravity enters and discharges through the chute e, whereby the fiber is left in a condition entirely free from objectionable matter. The action of the saws is after the manner of combing and the fiber is not subjected to cutting or to strain. 0onsequently the desirable long fiber of the staple is preserved. Choking or clogging at the point where the fiber is drawn from seed, &c., which might result in injury, is prevented in a gin constructed according to my invention for the reason that any excess of cotton engaged by one saw-cylinder will at once be caught and moved along by a succeeding sawcylinder, thus leaving to each saw only a quantity of fiber which may with safety be drawn between adjacent cylinders.

Although I have particularly described my invention as applied to ginning cotton, it will be apparent that the same general construction may with advantage be applied to machines for delinting cotton-seed or for burring wool, and machines for these purposes constructed substantially as herein set forth are considered within the scope of my invention.

In adapting my device for the purpose of delinting cotton-seed the saw-cylinders would preferably be covered with card-clothing.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A' cotton-gin comprising a main shaft provided with gear-wheels, a series of vertical saw-cylinders having their shafts pro vided with gear-wheels, being mounted in adj ustable bearings, and gear-wheels interposed between those on the main shaft and those on the cylinder-shaft, the interposed gearwheels being mounted in adjustable bearings, substantially as described.

2. A cotton-gin comprising a main shaft provided with gear-wheels, a frame having two horizontal step-supporting plates F and F, which are separated by a considerable space, and the upper one provided with slots, a series of saw-cylinders and their shafts arranged concentrically with said main shaft, and each alternate saw-shaft passing through slots in plate F, and being stepped on the lower plate, F, the other shafts being stepped on plate F, gears on the shafts, and intermediate gears meshing with those on the main and saw shafts, as shown and described.

3. -A cotton-gin comprising a central, vertical, driving-shaft, a series of vertical sawcylinders and their shafts arranged concentrically with said drivingshaft, fixed and brushes and shafts arranged exteriorly to, but concentrically with, the saw-shafts, and pro- I 5 vided With pulleys, and an endless belt passing around said pulleys and in contact with the pulley on the main shaft, as shown and described.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature 20 in presence of tWo Witnesses.

THOMAS B. LEE.

WVitnesses:

C. F. CALHOUN, WM. M. STAT. 

